


I'm No Bambi

by BadDragon



Category: Bambi - All Media Types, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Animals, Alternate Universe - Crack, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Animal Death, Crack, Crack Pairing, Friendship/Love, Human as an Animal, Mild Adult Subject Matter, Other, Out of Character, POV Character of Color, body switch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-04-02
Updated: 2012-05-04
Packaged: 2017-11-10 23:44:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/472047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadDragon/pseuds/BadDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who's to say its drugs? What if it's real? Maybe this was his second life, and he had been too terrible to be a human this time around? And how hard could it be to live as a roe deer anyways?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Deer In The Headlights

**Author's Note:**

> Synapsis: What if a human (The Boy Who Lived to be exact) became our most cherished animal friend, Bambi? How would a human deal with "man" being in the forest? How can a human deal with the Darwinism of a forest when he's transformed from an almost grown teenager to a fawn?

"I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her."

-(Tacky, I know, but I couldn't help it)-

_Prologue_  
 **Deer in the Headlights**

The birdsong woke him. Lifting his head from his folded limbs, he opened his eyes, took in the site of the thicket surrounding him, and closed them again. He twisted his head at an odd angle till his neck gave a satisfying _crack_. Still drowsy with sleep, he started to sit up, but instead of the enjoyable stretching of his arms, till his elbows cracked, he suddenly noticed something about the surroundings that hadn't been there the night before at the camp site.

He opened his eyes and saw that he seemed to be surrounded by branches and brush. He opened his mouth, to let out an undignified, "What the _hell_?" but it only came out as a bleat in his ears. Ears that he felt shift from the tops of his head to duck down, as if to save their selves from hearing the words he had tried to say.

Standing up became his next ground plan, but he felt as if he were trying to push himself off his arse with stilts. And that is when he looked down to see his fingers, palms, and _normal_ arms were gone. And he wasn't just sitting on his arse, but a hard lump as well. Then he noticed that, while his body felt naked, and true to form he wasn't wearing clothes, he was not chilled by the early morning weather. His body felt different too, with his legs not liking the position they were in as he sat, his bottom on the ground.

Deciding, that despite the deformities his body seemed to be suffering from, he needed to stand, he struggled to his knees (or what he thought of as his knees) , hands (or whatever they were) on the ground, he pushed himself to a crouching position. Surprisingly, this position actually relieved some type of strain he had been going through ever since he woke and sat up.

Straightening up, and actually feeling relatively normal in the motion of standing on four legs, confusion started to really set in.

How the hell had he turned into an animal? He wasn't an Animagus, that much was for sure. He might have been the Wizarding World's bitch boy, and all around Gryffindor Golden Boy, but he was sure had hadn't been able to do this bit of magic yesterday…

Yes, he recognized himself to somehow have been turned into an animal, and if the legs were anything to go by, a deer. He turned his head around (and almost keeled over due to becoming unbalanced) and saw a brown short coat of fur, with white spots. Not just any deer, too, but a fawn.

Now the question was: How did Harry James Potter become this way? Surely his best friends wouldn't have played this trick on him, knowing that a prank while they were running for their lives, trying to defeat Voldemort and destroy his horcrux plots was a piss poor time to pull one.

All his furious thinking seemed to have made him unaware of his surroundings. So the empty thicket where he had been resting before waking up suddenly having another being in it didn't compute until he felt the being duck their head down and something wet started to assault the top of Harry's head. Jolting away from the being in shock, Harry took in the being, another deer (a grey doe, in fact) that looked down at him, somehow conveying surprise herself.

She was quite a bit taller, and larger, than he was. Shaking on the four legs he still didn't trust that well, he tried to make himself as small as possible, to protect his small body. She tilted her head in wonder at his actions.

"Bambi? What is wrong?" She said, clear as day. He understood what she was saying! He fell to his backside again in shock, his front legs keeping him facing her. She took a step forward, seeking to comfort him (he could only assume, since he still appeared to be another deer). Harry shifted back farther into the thicket in fear. Fear of a wild animal coming any closer and being able to speak, that is…

"Bambi? Are you alright my son?" She asked again, tipping her head down towards him. Opening his mouth, thinking that she wouldn't understand him, Harry bleated again.

"I'm a deer!" He said, expecting nothing to come out of his mouth but more nonsense (and not understood) bleating, and was just as surprised at the words he could now say as the doe was that he said those three words in such surprise.

"Why, of course you are, Bambi. With me as your mother, what else would you be? Silly fawn." The doe, now announcing that she was Harry's mother, said affectionately. Thoughts running, the idea of having a mother again, even an animal-mother, had him staring at the doe, not knowing what to say.

"Really, Bambi, what has that rabbit, Thumper, and his sisters been filling your head with now? Are you alright?" the doe now with the moniker Mother, since he didn't know her name, questioned the fawn in an exasperated voice. His ears fell back in the guilt of making this animal concerned for him, even though she didn't realize that he was not the fawn she apparently birthed.

"I-I'm alright..." Harry said, unfolding from the protective position he had been in, and unsteadily tripped over to the other animal, rubbing a cheek tentatively on one of her legs. Her head lowered and he closed his eyes as he felt her tongue, it could only be that, bathing the top of his head.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Bambi. You were doing fine enough on your legs before, that I thought we could go to a special place to see other deer, but maybe we should wait. I don't want you to be hurt." Mother said, nuzzling one of his ears that had perked up to listen to her.

 _Bambi_ , Harry thought with a slightly upturned nose. _Sounds girly._ And suddenly he was looking upside down, in between his legs to make sure he _wasn't_ female in this body. Female and male fawns looked a lot alike at first, he well recalled.

 _Still a boy, thank Merlin_ … Harry thought.

Mother stared at her odd fawn, watching him look underneath himself at something for a few seconds before sagging in, she assumed, relief, then looking back up at her.

Looking up at the doe, Harry was thankful he hadn't, for whatever reason, become an older deer, or he would have been quite lost on how to survive. With this female deer, he would be able to learn how to survive until he figured out what to do next. He had read a small book on deer after Third Year to garner a little more closeness to his dead father, but it had never gone into much specifics.

"Well, Bambi, I think this excitement calls for a rest. Afterwards, we can go get some food if you are hungry." Mother said with a slightly resolute tone. Obviously, she thought that he would be back to normal after some sleep.

"Okay… Mother." Harry said, tone a little unsure. Knowing nothing else to do, and recognizing that, while in this body the female probably had some authority over him, Harry followed her as she moved to a corner, and eased herself down, legs tucked in.

Harry watched this and then attempted the same, a few inches away from her. It did not look as graceful as her own movements, but he managed to not tangle his legs with hers, and then looked up at her in slight wonderment.

She ducked her head down towards him, and started bathing the tops of his ears, a repetitive motion that seemed to help relax him. Giving a sudden, jaw-breaking yawn, Harry leaned against the firm, warm, but mostly soft, body of the doe. He'd never had a mother to really comfort him into sleep before, and this new experience… kind of made up for the waking up as a deer.

Thoughts now slowly circled in his mind as sleep slowly took him. _Why am I here, as a deer_? was a large, repeating thought. How was not so much important to him at the moment. After all, now that he had time to process it, he did recall the last memory he had of being in the Station, with Dumbledore and that odd infant. However, anything after that, and it all became quite fuzzy. He realized that he must have died… So this was his new life? Was it like reincarnation?

The nuzzling of the top of his head was the last thing he remembered feeling as sleep finally took him…

**TBC**


	2. The Meadow, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Total filler chapter here, kind of bringing Harry Potter and Bambi together by following the Bambi storyline a little at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a few scenes of dialogue in here from the first Bambi movie. I give credit to Walt Disney, and claim nothing.

"I realized that Eastern thought had somewhat more compassion for all living things. Man was a form of life that in another reincarnation might possibly be a horsefly or a bird of paradise or a deer. So a man of such faith, looking at animals, might be looking at old friends or ancestors."

William Orville Douglas

_Chapter One_  
 **Meadow, Part I**

One would think that animals would not be able to be so touchy-feely, but Mother seemed to constantly be brushing against him, or licking him, or bathing him, or nipping him, or pushing him. The cleaning was disgusting. Of course, this was taking into consideration that he came from a society of being able to bathe with soap and _water_.

With hands, too.

Harry had been in the forest, stuck as a fawn, for two days now. In those forty-eight hours, Mother was constantly cleaning him, or moving him along, or steering him with her body. He had never had an adult be that aware, or considerate of him before.

It was reassuringly annoying.

Aunt Petunia had, many a time, left him to his own devices while walking near roads and through parking lots. He had always followed close behind her and his pudgy cousin, Dudley, the blonde boys' hand held tight in her bony grip, fearing that he would be left forever.

Getting used to walking on four legs was an interesting feat, and Harry had just stared at Mother as her effortlessly walked, studying her movements, to repeat them, and was gaining on that prospect in mobility. Sitting in a thicket was only so enjoyable for those more environmentally friendly, like Neville.

Something that Harry could not figure out for the life of him was another thing that kept his mind racing. Any animal they bumped into, from the lowly ground mole, to the flying birds all greeted him as "Young Prince." He could not figure out why they did so, but shook it off as a hierarchy thing that Mother hadn't explained to him yet. He at least _hoped_ she hadn't explained it to him yet…

Magic was another matter. He couldn't do it…. at all. He had no wand, and even angering himself to the point where accidental magic would have happened had brought nothing. He finally accepted after a day of Mother staring at him making an arse out of himself as he tried to find his core, or let accidental magic happen.

Try as he might, Harry could not figure out how he came to be here, stuck as a fawn unfortunately named "Bambi." Flashes of his previous "life" as he came to think of it came to him sporadically, jumbled up and not in any correct order. First, he thought that he had gone to sleep by the camp fire in the Forest of Dean. Then, he remembered the last meeting with Voldemort, and sacrificing himself, and meeting Dumbledore. But as far as he could remember, that was all he had…

It worried him that he might have died for the Magical World, and then moved on to the next life to be reincarnated as a deer. If so, he kind of regretted being able to remember his past life, since humanity warred with natural instincts every day…

If the tongue baths and magic-less prospects weren't enough, Harry was not happy with the menu of grass, grass, and more grass to eat. If he wanted something different, Harry could always eat flowers, or interesting berries on the ground, but well… Yeah. The human concept of variety was not helping his transition into the wild. Really, it wasn't.

After the first night of vegetation for a meal, Harry dreamt of steak. And then promptly felt horrid for it, because, well, he was a deer at the moment. Deer didn't eat meat. Roe deer were herbivores, of _that_ he remembered from his Muggle grade-school days, sitting with his head on his hand, listening half-heartedly as his history teacher droned on about this and that.

But one thing was actually, well, sort of, _nice_ , out of what seemed to be the oddest hallucinogenic trip he had ever been on (and he had actually been on a few, as, facing facts, he was a teenager, and had a lot on his plate most times). Having a… mom was different. Mother actually took the time to teach Harry many things that would help him, and he would have never thought of or known, with being a human. She protected him, let him explore, and helped him find food (whether it was the type of food he wanted, was a completely different story).

Having someone that cared if he tripped over a root and fell down enough to come and help him back up was… nice. Aunt Petunia had never done that for him, but, for Dudley, she would have moved mountains. Mother had the perfect balance of 'helpful' and 'stand back and let him learn' quality.

Today, they were in a small clearing in the forest near the den. Mother watched him make his way over to a patch of grass. Giving a slight sneer at the green "stuff," he bent down and began eating. Whether his tongue liked it or not, this _was_ good for his fawn body. Knowing and doing were two different things, though. Turning off his mind, he mechanically continued grazing, moving about when he ran out of the shoots in range. He noticed Mother was not a few feet away, doing the same.

As he ate, thoughts passed through his head, and one notion made him pause. He hadn't seen many other animals in a few days. He hadn't even seen his small rabbit friend. Thumper, the kit with an apparently overbearing mother similar to Mrs. Weasley, had been quite the character to meet; that rabbit was a blather mouth to the extreme, along with his sisters.

Finished eating as much greenery as he could stomach, Harry walked over to Mother, and nuzzled against her frame, unconsciously looking for comfort. She raised her head, finishing up a blossom.

"Are you done, Bambi? Already? You haven't eaten a lot today…"

"Just kind of bored, Mother. That's all." Harry covered his lack of appetite for the grass.

"Well, I suppose we should be going…" She finally said, turning without any more words, and leading him away from the den and thicket.

"Mother, what are we gonna do today?" Harry asked as they moved farther into the woods, walking a path that only Mother saw.

"Well, I think I'm going to take you to the meadow."

Harry stopped for a second. This was new; he had never been to the meadow around here before.

"Meadow? What's the meadow?" Harry asked, thinking it was another den area. Deer moved around a lot, as he recalled.

"It's a very wonderful place." Mother stated simply. Raising a non-existing eyebrow at that oblique answer, Harry followed Mother carefully.

"If it's so wonderful, why having I seen it before, or been to it?" Harry asked, inquisitiveness too much to contain.

"You weren't big enough."

This caused Harry to frown at her hindquarters. Just how old was he, anyway? He felt a little insulted, but figured that his fawn self must not have been born a little bit before his entrance into this life.

Deciding to drop the issue of the meadow for a moment, and tripping over a root in the process, Harry quickly pulled alongside the doe before speaking again about a subject he was most curious about. Reverse-psychology wasn't that hard, after all…

"Mother, know what?"

Mother paused in her steps and glanced down at him. "What?"

"We aren't the only deer in the forest." Harry said in a slightly excited pitch. Mother began treading again.

"Where did you hear that?" She asked in an exasperated tone. Harry grinned; children asking questions, and generally running their maw was irritating to animals too…

"Thumper told me." Harry said quickly, knowing that he couldn't explain that it was common sense. Thumper told "Bambi" a lot, so it was a believable probability.

"Well, he is right. There are many deer in the forest, besides us." Mother said in a serene voice, almost as if she were thinking of another…

"Then why don't I ever see them?" Harry asked attentively, waiting for the reason he hadn't seen any other deer besides his mother.

"You will, sometime."

"On the meadow?" Harry probed.

The tree line was thinning.

"Perhaps." Mother said, slowing down to a halt near the edge. "Hush now. We are almost there." Her ears were perked up and facing forward, then sideways, listening… listening hard…

Harry stopped besides her, looking out to the meadow with the beautiful long stalks of grass, and wide open spaces. It was much more spacious than the cramped feeling woods.

Fervor built up inside him, and he pranced in place a second to try and release the energy. He wanted to jump, run, and explore…

Suddenly, he couldn't contain himself, and he shot out towards the ending tree line. "The meadow!" He shouted enthusiastically, knowing not where this exhilarating excitement suddenly came from at the idea of leaving the trees behind for a while.

"Bambi!" He did not here his mother's shout.

**TBC…**


	3. The Meadow, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Three deviates a little from the full "Meadow" scene… Introducing Ronno, instead of Faline. Also, you do not see Thumper in this meadow scene like in the movie.

The Dursley's...

Mrs. Figg...

The Professors at Hogwarts...

Voldemort…

Hermione, at times...

Ron, a lot of times…

Harry Potter was never one to listen to others; too pragmatic and set on doing things himself, he supposed. Mostly, Harry blamed the Dursley's making him do everything by himself, and being unreliable enough that he had no choice _but_ to work alone, or do things by himself. Others telling you what to do meant that things you needed, or wanted, to get done, were left up to an unreliable third party, and Harry just couldn't deal with that.

It had never really come up as a problem, per se, until Hogwarts. There, grownups tried to act like they were the responsible, common sense-gifted people they thought themselves to be. They were in every students' business 24/7, trying their best to "help" those in need.

But no one felt the need to do that for 'Harry Potter.' Though he had many problems and very few solutions, he was only helped when he really didn't need it, and never helped with things that actually turned out to be a two-man job.

It was destiny, he supposed, that the most self-reliant child that stepped forth inside the school turned out to be the one that really needed the most help, but never really got it.

That self-reliance bit him in the arse so many times, he was surprised he had anything below his waist, sometimes, when he was running around in that tent with Ron and Hermione during the war.

This was a prime example of a time when he really should just keep his head down and listen until he got the lay of the land, as it were, so that he would survive this acid-trip. Of course, being who he was…. well, there wasn't enough common sense for everyone, now was there?

Harry was so tunnel-visioned at the idea of the meadow, that a childish excitement that he had rarely been able to exercise while growing up with the perfectly normal Dursley family, and then his Hogwarts years, had taken over him.

The forest was thinning as he ran, almost breaking through the foliage. Sunlight was easily shining through the sparsely spread out trees as Harry kept straight on moving.

It was only a figure, about the same size as him, if not a little bigger, and brownish-grey-furred, that suddenly appeared in front of him, that finally stopped him in his tracks. It was not his mother, for she appeared suddenly behind Harry, just as he was taking in the sight of another deer, another fawn, but without his spots, and his coat a dark, chocolate brown. She didn't glance at the other fawn, though.

" _Never_ rush out onto the meadow, Bambi. There might be danger! Out there, we are unprotected." Mother said with a voice stern enough to make Harry drop his ears in shame. "The meadow is wide… and open; there are no trees or bushes to hide us, so we have to be very careful." Mother finished her speech with a disappointed frown (though how the doe portrayed that to him, Harry would never know) on her muzzle.

The other fawn, having watched the talking-to that Harry had received looked over Mother's body to give a stern frown of his own at Harry.

"That's right! Lucky enough, _I_ was here to stop you from running out there! How much of a _baby_ must you be to still not know to be watchful for _Man_?" The fawn asked in a sneering voice. His tone, right away, reminded Harry of Draco Malfoy. And wouldn't Malfoy be surprised that a very common _animal_ was able to match his tone easily? He'd be absolutely devastated when Harry got back and told him…

The insults to his age did not paint the other fawn in a pleasant light. However, the mentioning of 'man' caught Harry's attention; something to think about later, by himself. After all, being a 'man' trapped inside the body of a deer was something that didn't happen every day.

Harry glared at the other fawn. "Why are _you_ here, by _your_ self, anyways?" He said in a rude tone.

"Bambi!" Mother scolded. The other fawn burst out laughing.

" _Bambi_? What a baby-name! Ahahaha!" The fawn fell to the ground, rolling around in laughter, until he seemed to calm himself enough to answer.

Harry, however, was grinding his teeth in frustration. Bambi _was_ a girlish sounding name, but it was what Mother named him. That was enough for him to deal with the name that, even in his world, was a girly name. Though the origins of the name escaped him… He was pretty sure some Muggle named Walter or something had to do with it…

"The name's _Ronno_ and I don't need to stay by my mother's side every hour of every day. She should be coming any minute now. I just went for the straighter path." Ronno explained, though it was probably because Mother was looking at him now in a disapproving way. The other fawn grinned innocently enough that she turned back to her own offspring.

"Say hello to Ronno, Bambi, and wait here while I go first. If the meadow is safe I'll call you." Mother said, leaning down to touch Harry's nose to hers. Harry stared at Mother as she walked to the edge of the trees, stuck her head out and looked around, ears swiveling to hear as much as possible.

She slowly slipped from the covering tree line and made her way onto the meadow. Long grass touched her flanks as she stepped further and further away from the safety of the trees. Mother then froze still, ears still swiveling, and then made a complete 360, and then turned around to face the trees again.

"Come on, Bambi. It's all right. Come on." She said in a cheerful voice, obviously not sensing or seeing anything that would ward her away from the meadow at this time. Harry grinned, having silently watched her. He had completely ignored Ronno, who had stood not a foot away from him, the whole time Mother had been checking out the meadow for signs of Man.

Harry happily strutted a few paces away, but stopped just at the tree line, and turned back to the other fawn, who seemed a little shrunken into himself as Harry made to leave.

"Aren't you coming, Ronno?" Harry asked, trying to be polite to the other fawn. It was a Herculean effort, but Harry didn't want to be rude to the first fawn he had met. Repeating history in a place that was dangerous even on good days was not one of his priorities.

The other fawn tilted his head even as he seemed to shift himself to appear bigger again.

"No, of course not, since I am waiting for—" Ronno started.

"Ronno. You _did_ wait for me. Oh, oh my! Young Prince, good morning!" Another voice suddenly cut the fawn off. Ronno turned, and moved over to the doe that suddenly appeared from behind a large oak trunk.

"Mama!" Ronno said happily. "This is Bambi, and he almost ran into the meadow without his mother, and I stopped him, but he has a girly name, and doesn't seem to have any self-preservation at all! And then his mother—" Ronno excitedly spewed out, but the other doe leaning down and starting to lick the top of his head stopped him.

Harry grinned. Obviously, this Ronno was a mama's boy at heart, even though he tried to appear wise.

"Ronno, hush now. Not in front of the Young Prince." Ronno's mother said calmly. Harry gave her a curious stare… Young Prince? Shaking it off, he smiled up at the other deer.

"Hello. Good morning to you as well. Mother is already on the meadow, I'm gonna go." Harry turned to Ronno. "Bet you, you won't beat me at a race to my Mother!" Harry said, wanting to include Ronno. The other fawn snorted.

"Yeah right! You're on!" Ronno said in an excited voice, and then scratched at the ground with a behooved front paw. Harry strutted in place, by now much at ease on four legs, before taking off, hearing Ronno doing the same.

Harry heard Ronno's mother making her way from the tree line as they raced out onto the field, long grass easily higher than themselves, and making their own paths to where they recalled Harry's Mother to be standing and grazing on a patch of green clover.

Laughing and trying to outpace each other, both fawns made it to Mother at just the same time, and Harry collapsed to the ground in laughter, gasping to catch air as Ronno did the same a few steps away.

It was a beautiful day to be on the meadow.

TBC


	4. The Great Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Four introduces The Great Prince. This also branches a little, and introduces Ronno a little more into the picture. It slightly diverges from the original Bambi movie scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who might wonder why I chose a roe deer, I actually read the original _Bambi_ story a long time ago, Wikipedia helps here:
> 
> " _The world-famous deer Bambi (the eponymous character of the books Bambi, A Life in the Woods, and its sequel Bambi's Children, by Felix Salten)_ _ **is originally a roe deer**_ _. It was only when the story was adapted into the animated feature film Bambi, by the Walt Disney Studios, was Bambi changed to a white-tailed deer. This change was made due to the white-tail being a more familiar species to the mainstream U.S. viewers. Consequently, the setting was also changed to a North American wilderness."_
> 
> And according to wiki answers, there is an **unofficial name for Bambi's mother:** Fawn. I will use this sparingly, but I need a name, so Fawn is her name, while the word fawn in lower case is just the name of young deer. Harry will always refer to her as Mother, in thinking, and in words.

_Envy, like the worm, never runs but to the fairest fruit; like a cunning bloodhound, it singles out the fattest deer in the flock._

Francis Beaumont

_Chapter Three_  
 **The Great Prince**

Ronno was bored. This problem arose for every young being in the forest every once in a while, however, Ronno had rarely experienced it after his first meeting with the Young Prince, Bambi. Bambi was so… unusually unaccustomed to the world, almost like every new encounter or event was perplexing or imperative enough to take very deep thinking to understand and experience. It was also fun being a sort of guide for his fellow fawn, who always seemed flummoxed with the goings-on around him, as if his instincts weren't quite there yet.

Before making his first ever friend, who minded very little about his sometimes wild boasting and gruff nature, Ronno had had a very lonely life. Other fawns he tried to impress did not always take kindly towards the fawn that had no idea when to quit; with teasing, with harsh criticism, with the jokes, with the nagging… He couldn't help himself most days, the things that came out of his mouth.

A lot of the time he had no idea that he could prevent a lot of problems with just keeping his mouth shut, but with Bambi he was beginning to learn. Mama said that it was because he was finally being allowed to socialize. And with the Young Prince, too…

As it was, being a fawn from a doe that was not quite part of the same herd as the Young Prince, it was very often that Ronno had been sequestered away from others of the particular herd Bambi lived with. That Bambi's mother minded very little an unknown fawn from another doe marching around the clearly scent-marked territory of her stag was uncommon, but he very much appreciated it.

After all, it wasn't he or his Mama's fault that his sire was another buck that had been unable to contend with another buck, and so Ronno, and in connection, his Mama were both unhappily relocated.

Returning to the point, Ronno was bored, and his Mama was quite uninterested in listening to him prattle about Mr. Porcupine endangering all young beings just near the fallen log in the southern stream, or how he was going to one day be twice as large as the two nasty twin fawns close to the meadow, he definitely would!

Quite easily, this is how Ronno was allowed, for the very first time in his short life, to head out to the clearing close by to the lake in the middle of the forest. (He had nagged his Mama a few times before on how he never got to test out swimming, and wouldn't it be an awesome thing to do with Bambi some time?) Mama felt he was old enough to do so, and he was going to prove that he could handle this momentous occasion of independence, and remember everything that happened along the way, so that he could share with Bambi when meeting him again.

Proudly, the young fawn left his mother, not noticing when her tense body almost fell to the ground after he hopped over the last fallen log in eyesight.

He couldn't wait to share this new experience with his best friend, who didn't mind him talking all the time; Bambi never _forced_ him to play the quiet game like Mama did every other day…

* * *

Harry was sure now that Thumper had restless leg syndrome. The little rabbit had the twitchiest tic, "thumping" every which way he went. And Thumper, forever and a day, was following Harry, or Bambi as he was starting to get used to everyone calling him.

At the moment, Harry was alone without being alone, exploring the clearing surrounding the thicket that he and Mother slept in. She was resting, but had an eye on him as he appeared to be picking up sticks at random and shaking them in much the same manner as a Man's dog.

Internally Fawn sighed. It must be his father that her fawn got these weird impulses from. He would surely grow out of them sooner or later, if she went with how the buck was now. After all, she certainly never acted in this way as a fawn, and her mother had not passed on too long ago that the stories she had happily shared with others in her herd about all the younger (than her, for she was quite old, being around for several seasons more than most other does) members odd faults and habits.

Harry, on the other hand, was hoping that the act of waving something would make his magic, for all that it showed itself these past few months (which is to say, never), suddenly appear again.

While living in the forest was quite peaceful, and a nice vacation despite being trapped as an animal, Harry really needed to be a wizard again, and he was worried about how Hermione and Ron would take his disappearance. Would they think he had finally snapped from the pressure, or ran because he finally realized that he was the Dark Lord's number one target at the moment? And would the Dark Lord be able to find him as he was, and finally kill him?

There was also the worry as to what would happen if he stayed a fawn, growing up to become a buck—nothing ever happened for a good reason with Harry If-He-Didn't-Have-Bad-Luck-He'd-Have-No-Luck Potter—on if there would one day be a "hunt" he would need to be concerned with…

On that subject, Harry had not brought up the issue of "man" as he'd heard other creatures term the humans that Harry had yet to see. He didn't want to seem too curious or unusual from other fawns, because Mother would have said something by _now_ if he needed to be more alert. A creature of the forest she was, but she did have survival instincts that naturally she wanted to pass on to her "young."

Back to the present, Harry spit out another failure from his mouth, and decided that he looked more ridiculous waving a stick in his mouth than Thumper "thumping." He easily made his way over a small fallen tree, his four legs gracefully trotting him to his mother.

She lifted her head to look at him slipping down next to her, a nonexistent eyebrow raised, giving him the _Look_ …

"No I haven't been eating the odd mushrooms near the stream by Mr. Porcupine again, _Mother_ , I have quite clearly learned my lesson from it last time, and I heard every word you said last time this came up…" Harry said in a voice that said she looked at him a lot like this nowadays.

"Alright, son, I believe you. But _why_ —" Fawn started in on the questions. Even if she was _sure_ that this behavior came from his father, she still wanted to understand…

"I just wanted to test out the sticks for a new game I am trying to create for Ronno and me—" Harry started, interrupting Mother with the third degree.

"Ronno and _I_."

"Whatever. He thinks that I'm too much of a baby to, uh, come up with interesting games, 'cause he's always teaching me games, and uhh, I said I could! Then he will see…" Harry finished quickly, silently pleading for her to believe his white lie. Her eyebrow-less _Look_ appeared again.

Wait for it…

Mother sighed as she gave up on understanding her fawn again. "Alright, Bambi, but perhaps, Ronno would be more interested in a different game than with waving around _sticks_ …." She advised, going along with her odd fawn.

"I was getting tired of it anyways, Mother." Harry said with a slight downtrodden look, and though she did not understand her fawns' odd way, she decided to treat him with a walk to the meadow, as that seemed to be Bambi's favorite place. At least, ever since meeting Ronno, as well as another herds' fawns, three sets of twins. Inwardly, Fawn sighed at only having one for her first season; perhaps another time, after Bambi had a little more time getting settled, a set of younger siblings might not be such a bad thing…

"How about we go to the meadow for a while, Bambi? The rain yesterday perhaps made some young shoots undoubtedly a tasty treat. Perhaps we could come across your friend…" Mother suggested as she shifted from her resting position to her feet. Harry grinned, without grinning, prancing towards her to rub against her side, using his forehead to bunt against her hind leg.

Soon they were there, easing into the tall grass, Harry disappearing from the height, and his mother only just seeing over the sea of grass.

Easily darting about, Harry let what he had deemed the fawn in him out to play, laughing as he would zig and zag in the grass, easing around a small pond he recalled meeting Faline a month or two back in, and finally climbing upon a large flat rock to peer over the tall grass, taking in the wide expanse of open space with glee. Mother was by the pond, no doubt enjoying sprouts of grass (something he could only barely appreciate in this form) a few yards away from where he stood. He ignored her watchful eye (very rarely was he out from under her gaze).

Looking about, he noticed on the far side of the clearing, well away from the part he and Mother entered from, there were a few does, along with fawns no doubt, keeping weather eyes out for any trouble before ducking under the grass to enjoy whatever they found, and to take note where their fawns had wondered to. Sighing in defeat that he didn't readily notice Ronno, and figuring that it was an odd shot in the dark to begin with any hope to bump into the other fawn anyways, Harry turned around on the rock to leap from it, when something just from his hearing catch his attention.

An ear turning in the same direction as his head swiveled to see, hoping to spot the odd noise from before, Harry noticed his mother following his wandering gaze to see as several bucks suddenly appeared on the meadow. Seven-eight-twelve bucks, taller than Mother, ginormous in comparison to his own form, darted onto the meadow, some stopping to embrace and lock antlers, points sometimes scrapping against softly furred ears and sides of the head in their not-so-playful bouts. When they would break from each other, some would repeat the motions, locking antlers again, but others were leave and meet other bucks to charge and bout with.

Watching the bouts, breathing in the new and different scents associated with the new beings, Harry leapt off the rock and charged to his mother, darting between her legs.

"What is happening, Mother? Why are they fighting?" Harry asked. He knew that it was coming time for the rut, from his human experience he remembered bucks grew antlers in time for rutting and mating soon after, but he wasn't sure time-wise, or if this was serious, or if it was just practice for right now.

Should he be worried that a buck would act like a lion and kill his mother's fawn to mate with her? He couldn't rightly remember, was sure he was mixing up species, and BBC had only been so useful while dusting the Dursley's living room, when Dudley usually watched only cartoons or wrestling, and Vernon was interested in the news or the weekly lottery.

Fawn leaned her head down, putting her head at his level to rub against Harry to comfort him, before answering.

"They are preparing for The Season, Bambi. You don't have a thing to worry about. Just stay out of their way—" An interruption in the form of an older buck suddenly appearing on the meadow seemed to freeze all the younger bucks around, some staying locked together, unabashedly staring sideways or upside down as the large buck silently and majestically cut his way through the high grass, seeming to be going in no special direction.

Harry only noticed that the others had stopped locking antlers, silently staying where they were; he couldn't see the other buck just yet, so the sudden ceasing of action, noise, and life alarmed him quite a bit. Glancing nervously to Mother, he only saw her watching something towards the numerous younger bucks. Then his ears swiveled first, and then he craned his neck to try to see over the grass, hearing some being roving closer and closer to his Mother and he. Looking back toward Mother, Harry nudged her with his head, but received no response.

"Mother?" he whispered. Who was coming? Was it a being that everyone feared or needed to worry about?

Mother just continued to stare silently. But Harry could distinctly see something—soft?—shining in her brown eyes. Harry didn't have much more time to wait to see what was causing this soundless commotion. It was another buck, but not one he had ever seen before. He was _huge_ and had many great antlers, showing his age. He was very stately, walking slowly past Mother and him. Staring up in wonder, Harry was quite shocked when the stag actually _stopped_ a few feet away, and glanced silently down at him, then looked back up at his mother. Something passed between the two, what, Harry could not say. The shared glance was then broken as the stag made his way, graciously leaving the meadow for more interests deeper in the forest. The younger stags starting back up their practice.

Harry watched until he couldn't see the great stag anymore, before turning to his mother. She had watched the stags exit as well, something in the way she stared longer making the exit all the more important. She sighed quietly, and shuffled her front legs a bit, and eased down to continue grazing, before she caught the look on Harry's face.

"He stopped and looked at me." Harry said in a contemplating tone.

"Yes, I know." Mother said, voice not giving a hint away.

"Why was everyone still, when he came on the meadow?"

"Because everyone respects him. For of all the deer in the forest, no one has lived half so long. He's very brave, and very wise. That's why he is known as the Great Prince of the forest." Mother spoke, voice neutral, yet respectful at the same time. She then eased her head down to the sprouting shoots, and took a small mouthful, and started chewing.

Harry watched her for a few moments, old memories starting to come to him, and some not-so-old ones… The way others addressed him… Could it be…?

"Why am I called 'Young Prince' Mother?" Harry asked in a confused voice.

Fawn suddenly breathed in the shoots she had just begun chewing, and started sputtering and spitting out all that was in her mouth at her fawn's unexpected question.

* * *

He was known by many as the Great Prince of the forest. Many animals counted on him for many things. Just as it had been his sires' job before that, and his sire before. Stags of his line were usually lucky enough to live long enough to amass a lot of knowledge, and sometimes passed it down the line to the next in a way to continue, and to better the next generation.

Up until today, he was only able to catch a few glimpses of his first offspring. The young stay with the mother, as it has always been, while the sire guards his herd. That was the way it has always been.

But he was still amazed to finally see the life he and Fawn had created up close for the first time. And the young male was growing well. Maybe too well, if he one day had to kick him out of the herd, or be replaced. The young fawn was perfect, as far as he could see, nothing wrong, and while a little shy, he seemed happy.

Looking back at the meadow where he could distantly glimpse the young bucks trying to better themselves in time for The Season, he thought he could almost see his offspring, his 'Bambi,' and Fawn. With a fond, but brief smile, he continued on his rounds, as there were many miles to cover in the daylight hours.

A few minutes away from the thinning trees leading to the meadow, however, the Great Prince suddenly stopped. His ears swiveled forward, trying to catch what had caused him to tense up and freeze. He thought he had heard… Yes! The distant cawing of birds, a warning sound... The alert had been set off. Suddenly, he kicked off, turning the other way from the sounds coming closer and closer to his direction. Alert, he had to alert the meadow… He had to make sure everyone cleared the meadow, especially Fawn, and Bambi.

Galloping, slipping, sliding down the incline of roots, fallen leaves, and rocks, the Great Prince hurried through the thinning trees, making a path straight for the meadow. He could see through the few treetops as the birds flew, cawing their warnings to any that would listen, flying _away_ from the direction behind him. Distantly, the howls of baying dogs might have been heard over his dashing for the cleared land.

He finally broke through the tree-line to the meadow, and every buck, super-aware from their mock bouts suddenly started looking up seeing the Great Prince suddenly returning. He made the warning gesture of leaping to his back hind legs, kicking at the air, before racing off towards the opposite direction that he had just come, just as the cawing birds flew in the same direction, _away_ …

Understanding dawned, and everyone started leaving in droves. Masses left in all directions but one, and the Great Prince started a beeline for the last place he recalled seeing Fawn and his young offspring. They needed to leave. Man was in the forest, and it was past the season that they would be kind to a young fawn and doe. All were now game, and it sounded as if there were many out and about.

He bumped into Fawn quite accidentally, and she was also looking for her fawn in all of the confusion. Gesturing for her to go one direction, he headed in another, looking for the fawn in the mass of bodies moving in all sorts of directions, hardly anyone coordinated enough to answer his request as to where his young could be.

Finally he found the fawn, stumbling along in confusing circles in the tall grass, bleating for his mother. The Great Princes' sudden appearance calmed the fawn enough for him to start leading Bambi away, faster and faster, from the center of the meadow. They met up with the still searching Fawn, and quickly ran, stumbling over a few rabbits and grounded birds, such as a row of ducklings following their mother from the pond close to one edge of the meadow.

The fear, the anxiety, and the rushing away, to the safety of the trees, already at the edge, near the bushes almost blocked out the sounds of the gunshots suddenly going off, echoing all around the meadow, and the tree-lines. But it wasn't enough. Everyone could hear the echoing sounds of Man making an appearance in the forest.

They kept running, never turning back to look, never worrying about if the others followed, knowing they would. They ran until the Meadow was far off, and still they continued. Until, finally, it was safe. Until, finally, they were close to the thicket. Bambi was right by his mother, the Great Prince covering the fawn's other side. Bambi quickly slipped into the only home he knew in this world, ignoring the strange male that had stopped a little ways off, and his mother not being right at his side, Bambi curled up into a ball on the ground, as small as he could make it.

All were gasping for air, the urge to _run_ still inside all of them, but a few minutes calmed it enough, that Fawn thanked the Great Prince for the warning.

One last glance was shared between the stag and the doe, and then a small looksee at the fawn shivering in left over fear, and the Great Prince started off, not able to stay due to his duties to the forest. No words were shared, but so much was in that glance, but that was all there could be for now.

Fawn understood this, and made her way to Bambi, lying down beside the fawn, rubbing against the young buck to calm him from his first scare of Man.

That was the last glance that the Great Prince had of his Fawn, and it was the first great adventure he would have with his offspring as he was soon to learn.

* * *

To Be Continued…


End file.
